EPE 663: Field Studies in Educational Institutions
Fall 2006
Beth L. Goldstein Office Hours:
131 Taylor Education Bldg. Wednesdays, 5:30-6:45 pm
phone: 859/257-2705 and by appointment
e-mail: bethg@.uky.edu
Course Description
This course introduces the use of qualitative research methods in educational research. We will consider the types of research questions addressed using qualitative research methods and the methodological approaches applied. We will undertake step by step the design, conduct and initial analysis of a qualitative research project. Major topics will include defining the research questions and conceptual frames, entree to a research setting, participant observation, interviews, materials collection, data record-keeping, subjectivity and reflexivity, ethics, data quality, analysis and interpretation, and qualitative research writing. We will examine these topics through readings and class discussion done in conjunction with your field research projects.
Course Requirements
The course assignments are described in detail in the following pages. These include readings, class discussion, a field research project, and field exercises. The readings are of three types: methods discussions; issues and dilemmas in fieldwork both theoretical and practical; and presentations of qualitative research. You should complete the readings prior to the class for which they are assigned.
Handson experience is the best way to learn how to do research. The field project and related exercises are intended as an experiential initiation into qualitative research. For some of you, this will be an opportunity to explore a thesis or dissertation topic. Because we learn from and with one another, each of us should be willing to share the ups and downs, uncertainties, foibles, conundrums and successes of our field experiences.
Required Texts
*Corrine Glesne (2005) Becoming Qualitative Researchers. Allyn & Bacon (3rd edition). [refer: CG]
*J. Amos Hatch (2002) Doing Qualitative Research in Education Settings. SUNY. [refer: AH]
Recommended References
Robert Bogdan and Sari Knopp Biklen, Qualitative Research for Education. 4th ed. Allyn and Bacon, 2002.
John W. Creswell, Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design. Sage, 2006.
Norman Denzin and Yvonna Lincoln, Collecting and Interpreting Qualitatitve Materials 2nd ed. Sage, 2003.
Carolyn Frank, Ethnographic Eyes: A Teacher's Guide to Classroom Observation, Heineman, 1999.
Martin Hammersley and Paul Atkinson, Ethnography: Principles in Practice. 2nd ed. Routledge,1995.
Richard A. Krueger, Focus Groups. Sage, 2000.
Steinar Kvale, InterViews. 3rd edition. Sage, 2000.
Catherine Marshall and Gretchen B. Rossman, Designing Qualitative Research. 3rd ed. Sage, 1998.
Jennifer Mason, Qualitative Researching. 2nd edition. Sage, 2002.
Matthew B. Miles and A Michael Huberman, Qualitative Data Analysis. 2nd ed. Sage, 1994.
Sharan B. Merriam, Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education Jossey-Bass, 1997.
David L. Morgan, Focus Groups as Qualitative Research. 2nd ed. Sage, 1996.
Michael Quinn Patton. Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods. 3rd ed. Sage, 2002.
James P. Spradley. The Ethnographic Interview. International Thomson, 1997.
Robert S. Weiss. Learning from Strangers. Free Press, 1995
*Required texts have been ordered at UK and Kennedy Bookstores. Required and recommended readings are on reserve in the Education Library, 205 Dickey Hall. Articles are also on electronic reserve for this course. When possible, I have asked the library to place on reserve not only the specific article or chapter but also the book from which the reading is taken.
Grading Criteria and Expectations
This is primarily a methods course in which you will begin to explore qualitative research and to improve your practice of both inquiry and writing. The course is developmental in nature; the assignments reflect this. They are intended to provide practice working with qualitative data and to give you feedback as you go along. They are due on the date noted in the class schedule below.
Each assignment contributes a percentage to your final grade. I have noted that percentage in the descriptions of the assignments (following the weekly schedule). Most assignments will be individually graded; In a few cases, the assignment will become part of your participation grade. Concerted effort, progress, improvement and timeliness are key to the assignments. You will not be penalized if these are evidenced during the course of the semester.
The major written requirement for the course is the final written report of your project. The form of the paper will vary depending on what goals you have set for the semester: a self-contained project, an article, the start of a two-term project, or some other variation on these options. In whatever form the paper takes, you must include a reflective component on yourself as researcher. The paper will be graded using traditional letter grades and will be most heavily weighted in your final course grade.
All written work will be assessed on the basis of demonstrated understanding and application of ideas, concepts and techniques covered in the course. Also critical are your analytic care, clarity of writing, and attentiveness to grammar, spelling and punctuation. All written work should be typed and double-spaced unless otherwise noted. Please include a heading with name, date and assignment number on everything submitted, and number your pages.
Class participation is the final component of your grade. Again, we are all learners in this class. What is important is that we support one another's learning by being attentive and well-prepared, providing constructive feedback, being willing to share our work, and being prepared to share it on time. You are expected to attend all class sessions unless you have an excused absence in which case you should arrange to make up any missed work.
Because we will be engaged in research with people (human subjects research), confidentiality and discretion are critical ethical components of the work we will discuss in class. Therefore, please respect one another’s obligations to our research sites and participants. You’ll notice below that completing a formal ethics training certification is a required assignment for the course. Another aspect of ethics is academic ethics. Be familiar with UK’s Student Rights and Responsibilities, with particular attention to issues of plagiarism.
Grading:
Assignments 50%
Class participation 10%
Final paper 40%
Schedule of Classes, Readings and Assignments
8/23 Introduction to Qualitative Inquiry
8/30 Forms and Dimensions of Qualitative Inquiry
9/6 Research Design and Gaining Entree
9/13 Ethical Codes, Human subjects and the IRB
9/20 Generating Data: Observation and Field notes
9/27 Generating Data: Unstructured Interviews
10/4 Generating Data: Structured Interviews and Focus Groups; Focus group workshop I
10/11 Rapport and Subjectivity; Focus group workshop II
10/18 Organizing Data
10/25 Data Analysis: Emerging Patterns
11/1 Theoretical Analysis, Trustworthiness and Credibility
11/8 Writing and Interpretation I
11/15 Writing and Interpretation II
11/22 No class. Thanksgiving
11/29 Catch up
12/6 Project presentations.
12/13 Project presentations. PAPERS DUE.
Exercises and assignments:
I. Field research project
The central experiential requirement of this course that weaves though most of your assignments is your qualitative research project. Thorough qualitative research typically requires months of field research. Given the time constraints of a semester, this field project is by necessity just a taste of qualitative research, a chance to begin to try various methods and techniques, modes of conceptualization, interpretation and analysis.
The topic for the project should be developed in consultation with me. For those of you who are beginning to think about a masters paper, thesis or dissertation, I encourage you to consider this an opportunity to undertake exploratory research towards that work. Those of you who embark on an extended project or anticipate using qualitative methods for further research may continue work begun this semester in next term's course EPE 763 Advanced Field Research.
The project should have a clear research question and a defined “field setting” that includes a naturalistic component (where, when, with whom, what). You should use at least three different data generation methods (observations, formal interviews, focus group, documents or material analysis, visual recordings), including at least one form of interview technique. The number of participants and time frame will depend on your research question.
As part of the project you will complete a set of assignments. At the end of the semester, you will make two presentations from the project: orally to the class and in writing. The exercises (described below) are designed to introduce, guide and pace you through a field research project. I hope this way to help you avoid the fate of many a term paper - written hurriedly in the last few days of the semester; a paper to be written from qualitative field data can not be completed from start to finish in the week before it is due (I'll leave to you whether any paper can be so written)!
The final paper is a substantive presentation of your field research project. Since the purpose of this course is to learn about qualitative field methods, the paper will address two dimensions: 1) descriptive, empirical and analytic aspects of the project and 2) reflection on the research as you experience it. It may be appropriate in your paper to discuss how the research can be continued. This is especially pertinent for those of you planning to continue in the spring semester’s advanced qualitative research course. Or it may be most appropriate to discuss why the project did not accomplish what you had intended. More will be said on this later in the semester.
II. Class and Field exercises
Due dates are given in the above class schedule (noted at the end of day's assigned readings). The written assignments must be handed in on time as we will use them as a basis for class discussion. The exercises include sample field observations, interview transcripts, mini-proposal and components of data analysis. As indicated in the individual assignments, not all have to be written in polished prose; however, they do have to be accurate, complete and where noted reflective. The intention is for you to practice gathering, recording, organizing and presenting field data.
#1: Article Responses (two articles, 5 percent each)
Write a response to the article that considers what the main research question addressed is, what conceptual frame is used, how the researcher designed the study, what struck you as significant in the ways in which data are used and presented, and what concerned you about the article (1-2 pages).
Everyone will write a response to the Magolda article. You will each also write a response to one other research presentation article (those marked ** on the weekly schedule) and then help present that article in class. We’ll sign up for these early in the semester. Written responses are due the day of your presentation in class for the second article.
#2: Field observation (part of participation grade)
Write up a description of the setting you observed on 8/23 using your observational notes. Focus on what you saw during a 10-15 minute time period. You may include other sensory information but exclude conversational stimuli. Reflect in writing on the discussion you had with your "co-observers": how did your observations differ and overlap? Why might you have noted different dimensions of the setting than your classmates? Turn in your handwritten field notes, the narrative description you construct from these, and your reflective statement (field notes plus 2-3 typed pages of narrative and reflection).
#3: Speech observation: Listen to a conversation (part of participation grade)
Listen to a 10-15 minute conversation without participating. In your written account, summarize the conversation and reproduce a portion of it verbatim (12 typed pages). How do you keep records of turntaking, timing, interruptions, nonverbal cues? What's challenging about this exercise? (additional 1 page)
#4: Human subjects ethics training certification
The federal government and UK require formal human subjects training for all researchers on projects involving people. Therefore, as a requirement of this class, you must pass the CITI program for the social sciences, one of the training options offered by UK’s Office of Research Integrity. It is free and online and coincides well with the content of EPE 663. Go to the ORI website: http://www.research.uky.edu/ori/mandatory_research_ed.html for entry to the site. The training should take three to four hours and can be stopped mid-session if necessary. You may undertake it at your convenience but you must pass it to complete EPE 663. Once passed, the certification is good for three years. Print out the final certificate to prove that you have completed this research ethics training – one copy to complete this assignment on 9/20 and one for your own records.
#5: Mini-proposal for your field project (10 percent)
To write this mini-proposal, you will 1) choose a research setting/people; 2) state the research question/s; 3) outline the research design; and 4) develop an interview protocol and a consent letter. As part of this, you will need to have already contacted the setting/people for your project. What are the characteristics of your research setting/people? What initial impressions of the place, people, research points of interest and questions? What are the issues of entree and personal involvement? I will hand out a more detailed outline for the mini-proposal in class.
#6: Learning to keep field notes (10 percent)
Hand in field notes with annotations from one session of observation (30-60 minutes).
· Observe actions, encounters, and episodes carefully. Do not formally interview anyone. Take notes while observing, but expect to expand these immediately upon leaving the setting. The recording process often takes quite a bit longer than the actual observation
· Type up your notes to hand in. Your typed notes will easily run 5-8 pages.
(1) Include relevant information about the setting where you did your observations and why you chose that particular venue.
(2) Describe what you saw (who, what, when, where, and why). When you get to the "why," be specific about what enabled you to impute motivations.
(3) Explain a bit about how you felt during the observation process, including what observational techniques did and didn’t work for you.
(4) Note what needs follow-up, what questions you now have and how this observation relates to what you already know.
(5) As an appendix (e.g., in addition to the eight-page write up mentioned above), draw a map of the setting and describe it in enough detail so that I, having not visited the site, will be able to visualize the place in which you made your observations.